Musical Comedy Set With Robert Downey Jr

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros has closed a deal for an untitled musical comedy that will be developed as a potential star vehicle for Robert Downey Jr. The script and lyrics will be written by Brian Yorkey and the music will be composed by Tom Kitt. That’s the duo best known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning rock opera Next To Normal, which won 3 Tony Awards, including Best Score. The musical opened last Sunday in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre.

I’m told that Yorkey and Kitt developed the idea with Anonymous Content’s Joy Gorman, with Downey and his Team Downey partner Susan Downey aboard to produce with Anonymous Content.

The hope is for Downey–a gifted singer–to play one of two Broadway songwriters who find themselves creatively and financially bankrupt when their big-break musical is a huge flop. Searching for some inspiration for their comeback, they take jobs as counselors, teaching singing and dancing at the theater camp they attended as kids. Yorkey and Kitt were repped in the deal by WME, Downey by CAA.